We are committed to narrowing the attainment gap between SEND and non-SEND pupils at Seaton Primary School. We recognise and embrace the fact that every child is different and therefore the educational needs of every child is different. At Seaton Primary School we value the involvement of all members of our school community. We would welcome your feedback and future involvement in the review of our offer, so please do contact us.

All governing bodies of maintained schools and maintained nursery schools and the proprietors of academy schools have a legal duty to publish information on their website about the implementation of the governing body’s or the proprietor’s policy for pupils with SEN. This information must be updated annually.

Seaton Primary School is a mainstream primary school. We believe that every pupil should be able to participate in all aspects of school life. Educational inclusion is about equal opportunities for all learners, whatever their age, gender, ethnicity, impairment, attainment and background.

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1. How can I let the school know that I am concerned about my child's progress in school and who are the best people to talk to about my child's difficulties with learning/Special Educational Needs or Disability (SEND)?

Your main point of contact at school should always be your child’s class teacher if you think your child may have Special Educational Needs. The class teacher will be able to discuss your concerns. If you need to speak with other staff members, such as the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) or the Pastoral Manager, then the class teacher will be able to help you to arrange this or you can email the SENCo – m.kay@seatonprimary.org.uk at any time. Mrs Kay will aim to respond within 24 hours.

The Class Teacher is responsible for:

Monitoring the progress of pupils and identifying, planning and delivering any additional help that your child may need.

Writing Individual Education Plans (IEPs), based on accessible targets and sharing and reviewing these with parents at least once each term and planning for the next term.

Advising on the deployment of the school’s delegated budget and other resources to meet pupils’ needs effectively

Monitoring relevant SEN CPD for all staff

Overseeing the records of all children with special educational needs and ensuring they are up to date

Liaising with parents/carers of children with special educational needs

Contributing to the in-service training of staff

Being a point of contact with external agencies, especially the local authority and its support services

Liaising with early years providers, other schools, educational psychologists, health and social care professionals and independent or voluntary bodies

Liaising with potential next providers of education to ensure a pupil and their parents/carers are informed about options and a smooth transition is planned

Monitoring the impact of interventions provided for pupils with SEND

To lead on the development of high quality SEND provision as an integral part of the school improvement plan

Working with the Headteacher and the school governors to ensure that the school meets its responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010) with regard to reasonable adjustments and access arrangements. Head of Teaching and Learning, Mr George, is responsible for overseeing the role of the SENCo and ensuring that provision is in place for SEND pupils.

We work closely with our school Educational Psychologist. We have recently started to hold drop-in sessions for parents with the Educational Psychologist and separate drop-in sessions for teachers. During these drop-in sessions, both parents and teachers can have in informal conversations and raise any concerns or ask questions that they may have. They will be given immediate advice or support, which is very effective.

The Head of the Federation, Mr Michael Rolls, is responsible for overseeing the SEND budget and ensuring that the necessary provision is in place.

Our SEND Governor is Mrs Catherine Way. Mrs Way has been proactive in supporting children with SEND.

2. How does the school know if children need extra help?

Class Teachers, support staff, parents/carers and the learner themselves will be the first to identify a learning difficulty. The SENCo will also support with the identification of barriers to learning.

Pupils have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special education provision to be made for him/her namely provision which is additional to or different from that normally available in a differentiated curriculum. Any School regards pupils as having a Special Educational Need if they:

Have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of pupils of the same age, or;

Have a disability which prevents or hinders him/her from making use of facilities of a kind generallyprovided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions having a language or form of language that is different from the language in which they will be taught is not regarded at having a learning difficulty. If a learner is identified as having SEN, we will provide provision that is ‘additional to or different from’ the normal differentiated curriculum, intended to overcome the barrier to their learning. Information is also passed on from Nursery school/ Infant/ Primary/ Previous schools.

There are four broad areas of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), decided by the Department for Education:

Communication and interaction

Cognition and learning

Social, mental and emotional health

Sensory and/or physical needs

If a pupil has SEND, then their needs will fit into one or more of these categories.

Depending on the level of need the child may be recorded in school as:

SEN Concern – placed on a monitoring list.

Special Educational Need (SEN Support) – placed on the SEN register.

EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan)

We also use a range of assessment tools at Seaton Primary School.

Educational Psychology Service

Speech & Language Link

Classroom Observation

Joint Classroom observations

Speech and Language Service

Other link agencies

Class teachers monitor the attainment and progress of all pupils. They are required to provide high quality teaching that is differentiated to meet the needs of pupils. If a pupil is making inadequate progress, additional support will be provided under the direction of the class teacher.

Where pupils continue to make inadequate progress despite support and high quality teaching, the class teacher will work with the school’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) to assess if a pupil has a significant learning difficulty and agree appropriate support. We use the Devon Graduated Response Tool. This helps to identify if/where pupils have difficulties and plan to meet those needs.

Graduated Response Tool:

This is a tool introduced across Devon to support the graduated response process. It is a clear way to share information about provision. It involves identifying the child’s needs, making a plan to address these needs and then monitoring the child’s progress over a short period, with a view to moving to targeted or specialist provision if universal provision is not meeting the child’s needs.

If the child is placed on the school’s SEN Register parents/carers will be informed immediately.

In some cases, we may seek advice from an external professional such as a specialist teacher or educational psychologist. This will always involve discussion and consent from the pupil’s parents/carers.

3. What support is offered for children with SEND at Seaton Primary School?

Seaton Primary School has a range of support in place to ensure that the curriculum is accessible to all pupils and they have the opportunity to reach their potential. Please click on the provision documents below to explore the provision that is put in place for each level of need.

Areas of SEND and Provision

1) Communication and Interaction – Provision

2) Cognition and Learning – Provision

3) Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties – Provision

4) Sensory and Physical Needs- Provision

The first strategy we use to meet pupils’ needs is high quality teaching (Quality First Teaching) which takes account of pupils’ differing needs. We aim to provide a tailored and personalised approach for individuals with complex needs and we make appropriate use of the resources in our delegated budget to support children with additional needs. We ensure that we group children to target specific levels of progress, when needed, and differentiate resources and teaching styles. We make appropriate choices of texts and topics to suit the learner. We provide access arrangements for tests and additional adult support.

Graduated Response Tool

Underpinning ALL our provision in school is the graduated approach cycle of:

Assess: Children are continually assessed as part of a rigorous, whole-school monitoring approach. A variety of assessment techniques may be used, including observation of pupils’ learning; informal discussion with individuals or groups of pupils; asking questions to determine knowledge and understanding; looking at recorded work or conducting formal tests. Assessments may be carried out by teachers or teaching assistants, depending on the child’s needs.

Plan: If a child is falling behind the level expected for children their age or they are not making the progress expected, teachers are responsible for making adjustments to their own practice, according to the needs of the individual child. Such adjustments may include changes in seating arrangements or groupings, provision of different learning materials, more extensive differentiation, inclusion in small adult-led group activities or provision of more specific resources such as reading rulers or pencil grips. This level of provision is known as Quality First Teaching or Universal provision and is available to all children.

In addition to these adjustments, teachers may also decide to include pupils in more targeted interventions designed to enable pupils to ‘catch up’ with their peers.

Do: While the class teacher is responsible for making adjustments to classroom practice, more specific interventions may be led by the class teacher or TA. Desired outcomes will be much more specific and differ according to the needs of the pupils – this is known as Targeted support and may be accessed by a range of children, not only those with identified SEND.

Review: Teachers are responsible for monitoring the progress of pupils who are accessing interventions, and this is done through discussions with the adult responsible for delivering interventions, general monitoring of work produced during sessions and through the completion of Individual Education Plans or the class Action Plans/ Provision Map.

If the pupil is still failing to make progress despite accessing universal and targeted support, the SENCo may decide to refer the child to an outside agency such as the Educational Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, or CAMHS. The SENCo may also decide to carry out more detailed assessments in order to further clarify the child’s strengths and weaknesses. Parents are consulted at every stage of this process and are required to give written consent for further referrals or assessments to be undertaken.

Your child may be involved in specific group work interventions which may be run by a teacher or a teaching assistant (TA).

You child may participate in interventions using programmes supplied by outside agencies, e.g. Speech and Language therapy. This means a pupil has been identified by the SENCO/class teacher as needing some extra specialist support in school from a professional outside the school.

We will always ask for your consent to refer your child to a specialist professional. The specialist will work with your child and then make recommendations to the school as to ways to support the pupil. We may use the Devon system ‘Right for Children’ to coordinate Team Around the Family meetings, if your child or family have multi-agency support, but we will always talk you through this process and seek your consent to use this system.

If a child has learning needs which are severe, complex and lifelong they may need specialist individual provision. This is usually provided via an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This means your child will have been identified by professionals as needing a particularly high level of individual or small-group teaching.

4. If the school has any concerns about my child's learning or progress how will you inform me?

If your child is identified as having a Special Educational Need, the school will arrange a meeting to discuss this with you in more detail either with the class teacher or SENCo . Please contact at any time if necessary. We will discuss any concerns you may have. The next step will be to put a plan in place to provide any additional support your child may need. If it is felt necessary, we may make referrals to outside agencies, but we will seek your consent and involve and support you throughout this process. As a school we also use ParentMail, parent’s evenings to consult parents and we also have our Family Support Advisor, Gerry Fry. Gerry runs drop in sessions on Thursday mornings from 9:00-10:30am.

5. How is extra support and funding allocated to pupils and how do they progress in their learning?

Funding for SEN in mainstream schools is mainly delegated to the schools budget. Schools are expected to provide support to their pupils with SEN from their SEN budget. Personal Budgets are available to pupils with an Education, Health and social Care Plan (EHCP) or pupils who are currently under-going a needs assessment for an EHCP. Preceding a request for an EHCP, it is expected that the resources available in schools have been exhausted. The Headteacher oversees the deployment of resources for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, in consultation with the school governors on the basis of needs in the school.

The Headteacher and the SENCO are also involved in deciding what resources/training and support is needed. If a pupil requires additional resources this is identified on their Individual Education Plan, or on the class Provision Map. Provision Maps are reviewed termly and changes are made as needed, according to the needs of the children and resources are deployed effectively. The school will need to be able to demonstrate how it has spent SEND funding to date and whether this funding has met the outcomes for the child.

6. Who provides support in school for pupils with SEND?

In school the following people are involved in supporting SEND pupils:

Class Teachers

The School SENCO – Mrs Kay

Teaching Assistants offering support through intervention groups or 1:1 support.

Mrs Russell and Ms Salter offer support for children with emotional and social development.

Ms Salter provides Speech and Language Therapy for pupils who require this intervention.

Local Authority Provision is delivered to school when needed, as follows:

Educational Psychology Service

Parent Partnership Service

Speech and Language Therapy

Behaviour Support Team

Advisory Teachers.

Health Provision is delivered when necessary, as follows:

Additional Speech and Language Therapy input to provide a higher level of service to the school.

School Nurse

Occupational Therapy

Physiotherapy

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHs)

7. What training do the teachers that work with SEND pupils have and how are they supported?

Mrs Kay has achieved the National Award for SEN Coordination. The SENCO’s role is to support the class teacher in planning for children with SEN. The SENCo also audits training needs and co-ordinates whole school SEND training and CPD. The SENCo may carry out joint planning or co-teaching with the class teacher. Individual teachers and support staff attend training courses run by outside agencies that are relevant to the needs of specific children in their class, e.g. from the Educational Psychology service.

Mrs McNiece and Mrs Gregory are our trained Autism Champions, having undertaken the Devon Enhanced Autism Programme. We have two trained Emotional Literacy Support Assistants.

SEND training is an on-going rolling programme of professional development for our staff, throughout the school year and staff are given the necessary training in order to support them to carry out their role successfully.

8. How is the decision made about the type of support and how much support my child will receive?

Within the school’s ability, we ensure that all pupils with SEND have their needs met with the funds available. We aim to provide the support that is needed for all children. We recognise that we require varying levels of support in school in order to achieve age related expectations.

The SENCO consults with class teachers, the School Leadership Team, as well as with support staff, to discuss the pupils’ needs and what support would be appropriate. All support given to SEN children is recorded on the Provision Map and Individual Education Plans. We use the Devon Graduation Response Tool to initially identify pupils’ needs, and then plan and monitor provisions.

Seaton Primary School receives funding directly to the school from the Local Authority to support the needs of learners with SEN. The school also receives funding from the Local Authority for learners with an Education, Health and Care Plan, who require support that exceeds that available to the school.

Extra support for your child will be discussed with the class teacher usually at Parents’ Evenings throughout the year.

9. How will we measure and monitor the progress of your child in school and how do we evaluate the effectiveness of our provision for SEND pupils?

We use a range of assessment tools at Seaton Primary School.

Class Action Plans/ Provision Maps

Educational Psychology Service

Speech & Language Link

Classroom Observation

Joint Classroom observations

Speech and Language Service

Other link agencies

We also have access to Pearson SpLD Test. Your child’s progress will be continually monitored by his/her class teacher. If your child is in Reception or above, a more sensitive assessment tool can be used, which shows their attainment in more detail – breaking learning down into smaller steps. At the end of each key stage (i.e. at the end of year 2 and year 6), all children are required to be formally assessed using Standard Assessment Tests (SATs). This is something the government requires all schools to do and the results are published nationally.

We have different levels of monitoring and provision planning in school. We use a Graduated Approach- Assess, Plan, Do, Review. The Headteacher carries out regular progress review meetings with teachers, in which they identify the provision made for pupils on a universal, targeted and specialist level. This includes reviewing the progress made by pupils with SEN.

Based on your child’s needs, they may have an Individual Education Plan based on targets set by their class teacher, in collaboration with the pupil and parents. Progress against these targets will be reviewed regularly with you at Parents’ Evenings. If we feel that further support is needed, or if your child has regular and frequent support from outside agencies, we may hold a Team Around the Child (TAC) meeting, to review their needs and support. This meeting would include the pupil and parents’ views about what support they believe is needed and then a list of actions that will be carried out to help support the pupil. Any plans put in place will be reviewed at a second meeting within the same academic year.

The progress of children with a, Education Health and Care Plan will also be formally reviewed at an Annual Review with all adults involved with the child’s education and health or social care.

Within Seaton Primary School we have clear systems in place for evaluating quality of provision by reviewing staff expertise through classroom observations, linking to appraisal/performance management systems. We evaluate the quality of provision through rigorous analysis of pupil progress, including work analysis and pupil observations. We regularly review and evaluate the impact of SEN provision on the progress, attainment and well-being of SEND pupils. Teachers and TAs keep SEND Intervention folders, in which progress is recorded at the end of each week throughout the period of intervention. These comments, along with discussion between the TA, Teacher and Key Stage Leader and a comparison of pre and post intervention data, will decide what course of action is taken next, for example, to continue the interventions, change the intervention or stop the intervention due to it no longer being needed. We review attendance and exclusion data for SEND pupils and track the progress of different pupil groups and cohorts – e.g. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), pupils with Dyslexia, Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD) etc.

We have a well-designed and comprehensive school improvement plan that accounts for specific development of SEND provision and addresses any areas of weakness. Parents are informed of their child’s progress at Parents’ Evenings, but also throughout the year, if teachers have concerns. Progress and evaluation is reported to the Governor with responsibility for SEN.

10. What support do we provide for you as a parent or carer of a child with SEND?

The class teacher is available to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns you may have and to share any strategies that work well in school.

The SENCO has an open door policy and is available to meet with you to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns/worries you may have.

All information from outside professionals will be discussed with you with the person involved directly, or where this is not possible, in a report.

IEPs will be reviewed with your involvement every term.

Devon Information and Advice Service for SEND is another source of support for parents. Mrs Kay can provide their contact details or further information.

Parents of children with SEND will be invited to a transition meeting with the current class teacher and future teacher in July.

The Family Support Advisor, Gerry Fry, runs parent drop-ins on Thursday mornings from 9:00-10:30am at school.

We can support families through Early Help and may use the system ‘Right For Children’ to hold Team Around the Family meetings.

11. Is Seaton Primary School accessible to children with SEND?

The school site has a main building which provides wheel chair access and the huts have access via ramps.

The main school building can be accessed from the car park.

The front desk has a wheel-chair height section.

There is a disabled toilet.

We ensure wherever possible that equipment used is accessible to all children regardless of their needs.

After-school provision is accessible to all children, including those with SEN.

Extra-curricular activities are accessible for children with SEN.

The Axe Beacon Federation is compliant with the Equality Act 2010 and Accessibility legislation. The Axe Beacon Federation works hard to develop its accessibility and each school has an accessibility plan detailing how this is being developed. (Information held locally in each school)

12. How will my child access activities outside the school classroom, including school trips?

All pupils are entitled to be included in all parts of the school curriculum, including school trips. We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to ensure participation for all, and will provide the necessary support to ensure that all pupils are included in activities.

We carry out a risk assessment prior to any off-site activity to ensure everyone’s health and safety will not be compromised. If needed, we will get specialist advice. We will plan alternative activities if it is decided that participation is not safe. The SENCo is responsible for monitoring SEND pupils’ engagement with extra-curricular activities.

The Equality Act 210 definition of disability is:

“A person has a disability for the purposes of this Act if (s)he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to day activities.”

Section 1(1) Disability Discrimination Act 1995

This definition of disability in the Equality Act includes children with long-term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, and cancer. Children and young people with such conditions do not necessarily have SEN, but some children may be covered by both SEN and disability legislation, because there is a significant overlap between children with a disability and those with SEN.

13. How will we support your child when they are joining this school, moving on to another class or leaving this school?

Transition is a part of life for all pupils and planning for transition is a part of our provision for all pupils with SEN. This can be having a new teacher or the transition to a new class in school or moving on to another school. We will work with children, families and other providers to ensure positive transitions occur.

Pre-school settings > School:

Early years teachers visit settings and or maintain professional dialogue throughout the year. Identified Early Years Action children will have enhanced transition documentation. Children with an EHCP will have additional visits and TAC meetings with all parties. Plans will be made in the year before transition. Mrs Kay visits the pre-schools in the Spring term to gather information on children coming into the school in the Reception year.

Year > Year:

All schools will have a half or whole day class “moving up” day. Any necessary physical or resourcing arrangements will be sorted out in advance. Teachers meet to share information in the summer term and attend any relevant meetings held for children. We also hold a transition meeting for parents with the current and future class teacher for pupils with SEND.

Primary > Secondary

Transition to Secondary school is very unique and individual to each child and each setting. Please speak to individual schools about organisation.

The SENCo and Pastoral Manager will carry out a transition meeting with secondary schools and ensure that information regarding SEN pupils is transferred in a confidential manner.

14. How will we support your child's emotional and social development?

All staff at school are aware that children may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest in many ways and we have clear processes to support these needs. Appropriate provision is in place, such as additional pastoral support for those pupils identified with social, emotional and mental health difficulties through our pastoral system, led by the Pastoral Manager. We annually review our SEND, anti-bullying and behaviour policies. Where appropriate, we seek further advice from advisory services and outside agencies about removing barriers to learning linked to emotional, mental and social development. We have an anti-bullying policy that is supported by specialist trained members of staff.

We provide nurturing interventions run by our Pastoral Manager and Assistant. This follows the principles of listening to children, showing empathy, making children feel important and being playful. We also have a social Gardening Club for children to learn how to co-operate with one another in a small group and be responsible for looking after a living environment in the summer term.

Playground support is provided during lunchtimes and break times for children who struggle with social situations or unstructured social time. We also have a lunchtime intervention programme in place for children who need extra support during lunchtimes.

Two of our Teaching Assistants are trained ELSAs. This means they are trained in emotional Literacy support and all TAs have received training in Attachment Based mentoring.

If unwell, a child’s parent/carer will be contacted and asked to make arrangements for collecting them as soon as possible.

In a medical emergency, the designated First Aiders will attend urgently, or may call for an ambulance if the pupil requires hospitalisation. Members of staff are trained annually on administering Epi-Pens for anaphylactic shock and pupils who have severe allergies or other significant health/medical needs are flagged-up to all staff throughout the school year. For a more detailed overview of these arrangements see the schools’ Medical Policy.

15. How can my child contribute their views?

The views of our children are very important to us and are highly valued.

As part of their Team Around the Child or Annual Review meetings we ask all pupils to contribute to the setting of their own outcomes.

We use a variety of methods for seeking student views which include our active school council, where pupils are elected each year to represent their peers. The school council is consulted on whole school plans and are able to express their views to the school’s Leadership Team. The school council regularly form a part of the school’s interview process for new members of staff.

If a pupil takes part in an intervention programme, then they will reflect at the end of each session as well as contribute their views to the half-termly review of progress.

If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) their views will be sought before any review meetings and where appropriate we also invite pupils to these meetings.

16. What arrangements are made by the Governing Body relating to the treatment of complaints from parents of pupils with SEND?

In the first instance, parent complaints about the provision or organisation of SEND are dealt with through the procedures outlined in the School’s Complaints Policy.

If there continues to be disagreement with regard to SEND provision the Local Authority should make arrangements that include the appointment of independent persons with a view to avoiding or resolving disagreements between the parents/carers and the school. This includes access to mediation before tribunal. Parents/carers have a right to appeal to a SEND tribunal at any stage.

17. What has and has not worked this year?

Areas of success:

Use of pastoral intervention programmes to support pupils with SEND.

Continued access to a range of professionals and expertise including e.g. Educational Psychologist, Advisory Teachers, Communication and Interaction Team.

Access to EHCPs for high needs pupils.

Areas for development:

Look at interventions in terms of offering more research-based opportunities, particularly for developing writing. Analyse the way in which we offer interventions and whether we are making effective use of staff expertise.

Further develop effective use of Individual Education Plans and progress review meetings, which will be implemented more regularly during staff meeting time.

Share staff experience and expertise effectively.

Further development:

Our strategic plans for developing and enhancing SEN provision in our school next year include learning walks, evaluation of data and collaboration with stakeholders in order to provide adequate provision for our SEND pupils.